Zarqa, Sept. 6 (Petra) -- Tourism and environmental experts have welcomed the government's plans to link tourism sites in eastern Jordan through organized tourist routes, aimed at creating a tourism and development zone that would generate employment opportunities for the local economy and promote various forms of modern tourism.

Their remarks followed Prime Minister Jafar Hassan's visit on Saturday to the Blessed Tree site in Safawi and several nature reserves and archaeological and tourist sites in Zarqa Governorate, where he reviewed plans to develop the sites in line with rapid advances in the tourism, environmental, and broader economic sectors.

Khaled Al-Balawi, head of the New Azraq Municipality Committee, told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the approach was important for implementing the comprehensive development plan for the Azraq area.

The plan includes developing the archaeological site of Azraq Castle, the development project in the town center, and environmental reserves such as Shaumari Wildlife Reserve and Azraq Wetland Reserve, in addition to archaeological desert castles along the international highway, including Qasr Al-Kharana and Qasr Amra.

Al-Balawi said eastern Jordan enjoys special royal and government attention that is strongly driving efforts to develop the region and firmly place it on Jordan's national tourism map as a major tourist destination.

He said the Ministry of Local Administration, through the Azraq Municipality and in cooperation with relevant authorities, was working to accelerate the implementation of the important national project by facilitating procedures and realizing the royal vision for the area.

Azraq has significant development advantages due to its location on a major international highway linking Jordan with the Gulf states and Iraq, he said. The area's selection as one of the world's best tourism villages by the United Nations Tourism Organization last year, combined with the government's plans to link tourist routes across eastern Jordan, would make Azraq a major development hub, he added.

Mohammad Wahib, a professor at the Queen Rania Faculty of Tourism and Heritage at the Hashemite University, stressed the importance of linking tourism, archaeological, and environmental sites in eastern Jordan to revive ancient routes, including the Quraysh's traditional trade journeys.

He described the prime minister's visit as a cornerstone for launching genuine development in eastern Jordan, saying the region possesses a globally significant civilizational heritage that can attract visitors interested in heritage, environmental, and adventure tourism.

Eastern Jordan, Wahib said, has a civilizational heritage deeply rooted in human history, with numerous discoveries revealing ancient civilizations that passed through the region. These assets should be utilized to serve local development in Jordan, he added.

Osama Hassan, director of the Azraq Tourism Development Project at the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), said work was underway to implement all components of the project according to a timetable aimed at completing it by the end of February 2027.

The project includes developing and operating the tourism development facility through the RSCN to serve as a hub for tourism activities and routes in the Azraq area and link natural reserve sites.

Hassan said the project includes an ecotourism park and an environmental garden featuring children's playgrounds, walking paths, and outdoor sports facilities.

Its environmental component includes rehabilitating the Northern Azraq oases and creating water bodies that replicate the historic Azraq oases, continuing the RSCN's efforts to restore the Azraq oases and the area's natural wetland ecosystem.

Omar Al-Shoushan, president of the Jordan Environmental Union, said the government's approach to developing and reviving tourism and environmental sites in eastern Jordan represented a strategic opportunity to reposition Azraq and eastern Jordan as an integrated tourist destination of global value rather than merely a collection of separate tourist sites.

The initiative would also support the rehabilitation of ecosystems, strengthen their resilience to climate change, protect natural and cultural heritage, link these efforts to sustainable development, and create genuine economic opportunities for local communities, he said.

Al-Shoushan said Jordan had an important opportunity to build on Azraq's exceptional global value. The selection of Northern Azraq Village among the world's best tourism villages for 2025 confirmed that the area had assets capable of attracting international as well as domestic tourism, he said.

This recognition should be invested in and promoted as part of an integrated destination strategy, he added.

He said this should be accompanied by efforts to strengthen Azraq Wetland Reserve's international standing and continue developing its nomination file in support of its potential inscription on UNESCO's Natural World Heritage List.

The exceptional universal value of Qasr Amra, already inscribed on the World Heritage List, should also be leveraged and linked with the destination's other tourism assets, he added.

//Petra// AF